CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Draven nodded when Gunnar held up the brandy decanter. “Sure.” He answered the other man’s unspoken question and nudged his glass closer to him. “Indy—” He stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of her closed eyes, and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Are you sleeping?”
“She zoned out before we ended the call with POTUS.” Gunnar filled his glass again. “Just curled her feet under her and settled in.”
“Your chairs are comfier than if we were at a debriefing.”
“Damn straight, I sometimes sit in those.” Gunnar settled into his own chair. “I wanted comfortable chairs, damn it, so I bought them.”
“I hear that.” Should he ask Gunnar’s opinion on how things would play out? Draven trusted his judgement and figured it couldn’t hurt. “Do you think she’ll be in danger?”
“I don’t think so. But I’d maybe give it a day or two before you leave here. Give the paperwork time to process.”
“You mean we stay here a week then. Because we both know, paperwork works at the speed of treacle coming out of a jar.”
“It does,” Gunnar agreed. “But there are worse places to be stuck than in a fancy ass villa in Italy.”
They grinned at each other.
“It sure beats a hooch in the Hindu Kush, doesn’t it?” Draven eyed Gunnar. “I just never figured you for a bells and whistles kinda guy.”
“Right? I’m a work for a living kinda dude.” Gunnar scratched at his beard in a habit Draven remembered meant he was wandering into uncomfortable territory. “My folks funded us to get off the ground. But we needed a place in Europe, and this place came up for less than it cost to build a barn at home. My mom talked us into it, then redecorated and all that shit.” He looked rueful. “Before I knew what was happening, we each had an apartment, and the ground floor for family stuff.” He lifted one shoulder. “But it works.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet it does.” Draven drained his glass again, but shook his head when Gunnar tilted the bottle toward him. “I’ll take her to bed if you have one for us.”
“Just one, or do you need two?”
It was official, he was an asshole, and he didn’t even care because he didn’t want Indy in a separate room to him. “One.”
He only mentioned beds, not rooms. He could have a room with two beds.
Shut up, brain.
He schooled his face into what he hoped passed as impassive, but given the way Gunnar smirked, he was guessing that wasn’t successful.
Gunnar thankfully didn’t call him on it. “If she asks me for another bed, I’ll provide one.”
“Noted.” He stood, turned to Indy, and carefully scooped her into his arms. “Shh, it’s just me.”
“I got your stuff.” Gunnar grabbed Indy’s ruck and held it up. “Just this one?”
“My go bag is in the rental.”
Gunnar opened the double doors and stood back to let him through. “Ah. No worries. I’ll have one of the boys grab it for you.” He led them to a sweeping marble staircase. “Sorry, no lifts here.”
“I remember how to climb stairs,” he replied. “And she weighs less than those rucks we had for cardiac hill.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the chief was stuffing mine with rocks or something.” Gunnar opened a doorway at the top of the stairs which led into a corridor. “Guest suites are through here.”
“Thanks.” Draven turned sideways to ensure he didn’t bump Indy’s head or feet on the door as he went through it.
“We have three suites here on this wing,” Gunnar told him. “One is occupied, so I’m gonna put you two down at the end. They don’t have kitchens, but they do have coffee machines and a mini fridge.”
“You lied earlier,” Draven whispered. “This is a freaking hotel.”
“Nah.” Gunnar snorted. “We like to keep an eye on the people we have here. Making them come to the kitchen or having us bring them up food means we get to do that.” He pushed open the door at the end of the hallway, and once again held it open for Draven to enter with Indy. “Besides, most of the people who stay here are as good as family, and we want them to come to the kitchen to eat with us.”
He kinda thought Gunnar had contradicted himself there, but he wasn’t going to call him on it, even if he was curious as to why. “Can you grab the covers for me, please?”
“Sure.”
He waited with Indy in his arms, her breathing soft feathery wisps of air on his neck while Gunnar did as he asked. Draven placed Indy gently on the bed and patted her much like his momma did with her grandkids when they slept restlessly, when she shifted and murmured in her sleep. “Shh, you’re safe.”
“Drave.”
“Yeah, baby, Drave.” He stroked one hand down her hair and she settled, snuggling into a pillow as he drew the covers over her. “Go back to sleep.” He straightened and gestured to the door before leaving the room with Gunnar on his heels. “I don’t want to leave her…”
“Stay. I have shit loads of work calling my name in the office.” Gunnar leaned into the room with one hand. “Here’s two keys for the door. One for you and one for your woman. If it shuts, you’ll be locked out. I have master keys downstairs, so come find me if you need to.”
“Thanks. I’ll be sure to tell Indy.” It should be all kinds of weird to hear someone calling Indy his woman. Should be, but it wasn’t.
“I’ll leave you to it.” Gunnar turned away. “If you want to join us for dinner, it’s at eight. Kitchen is two doors down from my office.”
“Thank you.” At this point, he was repeating some version of thanks or thank you every couple of minutes. He’d owe so many people a heck of a lot of favors after this. But as he went back into the room, closed the door, and stood at the end of the bed, watching Indy sleep, he knew it didn’t matter. He’d owe the pope favors if he had to. When it came to people he cared about, he found she was top of a very short list.
I can’t wait to take off my fucking boots.
Shit. Indy’s boots.
What a dumb fuck, I put her in bed with her fucking boots on.
He glanced from the woman sleeping in the bed to the chair and back again. If he woke her, he’d be annoyed with himself. But if he let her sleep in her boots, she’d be mad with him. He decided it was no contest, and carefully moved the blankets from the end of the bed until her feet were exposed. He unlaced her boots and carefully pulled off the first one before doing the same to the second. That she didn’t stir concerned him.
Is she sleeping, or is she sick?
She’d seemed fine when they were in Gunnar’s office. Ridiculous or not, he needed to check. More to reassure himself than anything. He knelt next to the bed and placed one finger under her nose, being careful not to touch her. In her sleep she swatted at him, as if, even as she slept, she was aware of his presence.
Thank fuck.
He scooted back and got to his feet. Now that he was sure she was breathing, he could look after himself. His ass was just about to hit the chair when a soft knock at the door stopped him. He hurried across the room to open the door in case the noise woke Indy.
“I’ve got your gear.” The McKinley brother at the door handed him his go-bag and a holster.
Talon’s voice was low as if he’d been warned Indy was asleep, and Draven made a mental note to thank Gunnar for doing so later. “Thanks, man.”
Talon nodded and turned away. It was then Draven saw the dog lying at door leading into the main part of the house. The dog got to its feet and waited for Talon to reach him with its tongue lolling out one side of its mouth. Talon’s fingers rubbed one of the dog’s ears. Draven couldn’t hear the words spoken, but the tone was affectionate. When the dog kept staring at him instead of following Talon through the door, Talon glanced over his shoulder and gave him a sharp salute in acknowledgement. Draven waved, stepped back into the room, and softly closed the door behind him.
Boots off first. Then figure out the rest.
He didn’t remember the last time he’d slept properly, and as he unlaced his boots, he decided a nap was definitely in order. He toed off the boots and moved them to the other side of the room near the windows. Because eww, nobody needed to get a whiff of how badly they stank after him wearing them for days on end.
After a quick stop at the bathroom to do what needed doing, he pulled out his phone and sent a text.
Draven: I’m crashing for a couple of hours. C.D.T. if needed.
Trev: Copy.
He figured it was better to follow protocol and tell Trev now that he’d be asleep, as if he missed a text, shit would fly. By sending him a C.D.T.—call don’t text—the notification would also be sent to Nemesis. He fiddled with the settings on his phone to set it to ‘do not disturb’ and found the charger. He turned to the bed and paused to watch Indy sleeping. Maybe he should have asked for a suite with two beds, or even a suite each for them. But right this second, he couldn’t bring himself to regret his choices. He went to the side of the bed near the door and plugged in his phone, placing it on the side table next to the bed.
Pants on or off?
Decisions, decisions .
When he wasn’t on missions, he typically didn’t wear boxers. But thankfully, today he was still wearing the pair he’d put on at Raptor’s house in Congo.
Pants off. It’s comfier.
He stripped off his pants, folded them, and placed them on the floor next to his side of the bed. Then carefully climbed in next to Indy, who like a five-pound cat, had sprawled herself across the bed. With his butt hanging over the edge of the bed, he gathered her into his arms and scooted them across the bed.
“Huh—wha—” She stirred and blinked sleepily up at him.
His heart did a weird flip-flop thing which impacted him right down to his toes.
That’s a cramp, not my heart coming online.
This isn’t going to be a Hallmark movie, dammit.
“It’s just me, baby.” He liked denial. Hell, correction, he fucking loved denial. He planned on embracing it like it was going out of style. Denial was a state of mind. If he didn’t admit to it, it wasn’t happening. “Go back to sleep. We’re safe here.”
She turned over and half-asleep, snuggled into his chest. “You sure?”
“Promise.” He kissed the top of her head and settled in around her, trying not to rouse her any more than he already had.
She leaned back to look at his face, then cupped his cheek with one hand, her thumb stroking over his stubble. “I believe you.” She pressed a soft kiss to his lips before resting her face against his heart. “Night.”
Hell, as he readjusted his stiffening dick, he had to admit that not only was she damn cute, he was more attracted to her than he should be. It just blew his mind that since she’d been taken from Raptor’s house, she seemed to be completely oblivious to him. “Night, baby.” That single soft kiss landed on his heart with the impact of a cruise missile… kaboom… right then and there, he knew denial wasn’t going to cut it. He was screwed. Because this woman, this one right here in his arms, was one he shouldn’t touch again. But he craved her. Needed her. Wanted her. And there would never be anyone else who would be able to fill the void which remained when they went back to their lives, her in California and him in Montana.
Shit.
I’m so fucked.